europe this summer. first germany for euro 2024 then the uk had centre stage for wimbledon — and the open recently but now, attention turns to to france and the start of the paris olympics this week. athletes have already been arriving in the city, ahead of friday's opening ceremony. very few sporting events have their build up scrutinised as much as the games. the french president emmanuel macron is ready for it, and for the world to see a rather different curtain raiser — on the water. we will have an opening ceremony which is unique because it is... this ceremony which is unique because it is... this is ceremony which is unique because it is... this is once in the history of the olympic games where we will have such an opening ceremony. not in a stadium but on the river and i can tell you that at the very beginning it seemed to be a

crazy and not very serious idea. but we decided it was the right moment to deliver this crazy idea and to make it real. our paris correspodnent hugh schofield has been there for the weeks and months leading up to the games. he says at the moment, the city is unusually quiet — as it prepares for the masses of spectators making their presence felt over the coming days. what you do see around the city now is a kind of emptiness, oddly, and it is like the calm before the excitement at least i hope it will be that. people are complaining, restaurant owners and hoteliers are complaining about the lack of people but it seems like many people who would have visited paris now in an ordinary tourist year are not visiting now because they are staying away because of the olympics. hopefully and i think everyone says it is fine but that will be more than made up for by the bigger rivals of sport fans at the end of this week. right now it does feel strangely quiet

and almost dead in parts. on the champs—elysses there was no—one there at all. i think it is because ordinary tourists have been scared away and the prices have shot up and we are not yet in the thick of it. the maelstrom is yet to start but i think it will come. lebronjames has been chosen to be the united states�* male flagbearer at that opening ceremony on the seine on friday. he becomes the third basketball player — and the first men's player to carry the us flag, at the start of an olympics. lebron is set to participate in his fourth games — having won bronze in his first appearance in 2004 back in athens, and back—to—back gold medals in 2008 and 2012. lebron and his team have been preparing in london in the last few days, in a different environment to the one dominated by politics back home. this at the end of the day sports is a great way to get away from real world things are happening and to see people you

look up to and people you admire performing their best i think is something everybody can appreciate and enjoy watching. i think we understand that and this being 12 of the best players in the world coming together to win and play is meaningful, i think everybody enjoying that. especially with team usa basketball and the olympics it is a chance for us to show that we can, you know, come together as a unit. you see the best players from different teams and i remember growing up as a kid and i loved nothing more than to see all the best players on team usa playing with each other and having fun out there doing it. the inclusion of one athlete in the netherlands team has proved controversial in the lead up to paris. steven van de velde was named in the country's beach volleyball tea m despite serving prison time for rape.

the head of australia's olympics team says they wouldn't have followed their dutch counterparts in picking van de velde, who's now 29, and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016, after pleading guilty to raping a 12—year—old british girl when he was 19. after serving 12 months of a four—year sentence he resumed his career and is travelling to paris. if an athlete or a staff member had that conviction they would not be allowed to be a member of our team. we have very stringent policies around safeguarding within our team and we have full confidences in those policies and the training that we have put our staff and our fleets through to have we have a number of athletes under 18 and under 16 so those policies are well in action for the safeguarding of our team. the netherlands olympic committee, in responding to van de velde�*s initial selection said his return to the sport had met their guidelines and that he'd shown self—insight and reflection since his release having undergone counselling. paralympics gb announced their cycling squad for the games

in paris earlier today. 17 riders have been selected for the event at the end of august — including six debutants — all given the task of following on from gb's most successful games in tokyo. every member of the team won a medal — with 2a medals won in total. four—time paralympic champion kadeena cox is included — along with dame sarah storey, who will compete in a ninth games. the idea of being able to put the kit on again, i am so thrilled. it is a pinch me moment. it was a dream i did not know i had as a kid but it is been motivation since the lockdown games to get to paris and to have those spectators there again. it feels almost like home games again. to football, where defending champions chelsea get their women's super league title defence under way at home against aston villa on the opening weekend. the blues will be looking to win a sixth consecutive wsl title, although they will have a new head coach at the helm in sonia bompastor after emma hayes departed to take the united states job at the end of last season.

the other standout fixture of the opening weekend sees arsenal host manchester city at the emirates. a bit of transfer news to bring you. aston villa have completed the signing of everton midfielder amadou onana. the belgium midfielder, who featured in all four of their matches at euro 2024, joins in a deal worth 50 million. onana joined everton in 2022, and made 72 appearances for the toffees. bournemouth owner bill foley has told the bbc he wouldn't support any plan to play premier league games outside england with fifa considering the potential impact of competitive domestic matches taking place overseas. the premier league has previously said it had no plans to get involved. but spain's la liga is hopeful of staging games in the united states in the season after next. i am very respectful of our fans and very respectful of the whole system of premier league and i would not want to be involved in changing any of that. i think after talking to our fans they will tell you

that our system and traditions need to be respected. so premier league games in america... preseason. mark cavendish has confirmed that he has competed at his last tour de france. the brit broke the record for most stage wins on this year's tour with his 35th but says that completing the race one last time was the most fulfilling aspect ahead of his expected retirement later this year. this i am pretty sure it is my last tour. last year was my last tour and i crashed out with a broken collarbone but to be able to come back with one target, with a reason to get out of bed every day and push myself and push myself... i didn't leave a stone unturned i did not leave a day without doing everything i needed to do training wise and everybody goes through hard times and there can be really hard times. nuisances but it is pushing

through those things to achieve a goal or to get to a point you want to. that makes those times are worthwhile and that is the context i want to put it in. it is hard, i'm not going to lie but the reward you get at the end of it makes it all the more worthwhile. so just to finish the tour, that was a challenge in itself. i did not need to, there was no sprint in paris at the end, it was just more for pride, for getting through the heart a sporting event in the world and the race has given me everything i have in my career, you know, so to show the race the respect it deserves was important, just to finish and

absorb it as well as the highs. the suffering is what makes the race special and it is what grows he was a person. so do feel that one last time, it was important. meanwhile, perhaps it's no surprise that tour de france winner tadej pogacar has pulled out of the paris olympics citing "tiredness", after winning the yellowjersey for the third time. slovenian olympic cycling coach uros murn said the rider has "cancelled his participation because of a state of extreme fatigue." another major champion who won't feature in paris is last year's wimbledon winner marketa vondrousova. the silver—medallist from tokyo has pulled out of this year's olympic tennis event because of a hand injury. you can get all the latest sports news at from the bbc sport app, orfrom our website — that's bbc.com/sport. from me and the rest of the team at the bbc sport centre, goodbye.

hello. for those who saw not a huge amount of sunshine on monday, there's certainly a greater chance over the next couple of days. tuesday and wednesday, looking sunnier by and large, a lot of dry weather around, a few isolated showers. some of the dampest conditions will actually be around first thing on tuesday. through the night, into tuesday morning, this is the weather system which will be bringing outbreaks of rain or drizzle across england and wales. it does mean a lot of cloud. it also means a very warm and humid start to the day. temperatures at around 14 to 17 degrees for some across the south, but it's here where the cloud will be its thickest, some rain or drizzle, bit like we saw on monday. the odd heavy burst, south midlands, south—east, but it's clearing away a good deal quicker than on monday, and sunshine further north

and west will develop a bit more widely as we go through the day. a few isolated showers possible, a bit of a breeze down the eastern coasts, but it's around some of the coastal seas, some of the sunniest conditions during the afternoon, especially to the north and the west. and temperatures of 19 to 2a degrees are bang—on average for this stage in the year. now, as we go into tuesday evening and overnight, we start with some clear skies. varying amounts of cloud, though, or pushing in from the west, stopping it from getting too chilly, but overall, a fresher night to take us into wednesday compared with what we see into tuesday morning. now, wednesday, there will be a bit more cloud around. that cloud will thin and break. there will be some sunny spells for many, the cloud tending to be thickest towards the west, especially as we go through the day. some showery bursts of rain, a little bit of drizzle in places, too, isolated light showers further east. many, though, again, a dry day on wednesday and starting to feel a bit more humid once more. and that humidity will last into wednesday night, but by thursday, weather systems starting to push their way in off the atlantic will bring a lot more cloud generally speaking, so it's almost as if we're back to monday. lots of cloud to begin with. there will be outbreaks of rain around. some of the heaviest could be across southern

counties through the day, spreading their way eastwards. some of the brightest conditions, probably across the north—east of scotland and then later into the west of ireland. temperatures down on what we've seen through recent days. thursday night and into friday, though, that rain gradually clears, lingering longest towards the south—east and the channel islands. could be there first thing friday morning. it will shift out of the way. good, long, sunny spells for many on friday, a scattering of showers. showers most likely, though, across the north and the west of the country. and temperatures very pleasant in the sunshine too. we'll see one or two showers around on saturday, but overall through the weekend, it's turning drier and warmerfor most.

live from washington, this is bbc news. joe biden urges democrats to embrace kamala harris as the presidential candidate

as she quickly picks up key endorsements. the us secret service director tells congress donald trump's attempted assassination was one of the agency's greatest security failures in decades. and deadly as strikes hit southern gaza as israeli prime minister travels to washington for high—level meetings. i'm sumi somaskanda. thank you forjoining us. on monday, the democratic party will announce its presidential nominee. with the possibility of a virtual rollcall though taking place as soon as august one if the harris is the only candidate. the date comes as democrats to flee back, harris officially kicked off a presidential campaign, just a day after president biden announced he would drop it election bid endorsing his vice president to replace him on the party ticket.

it's been a busy 2a hours for the vice president, receiving the endorsement from a number